Dime Store Hot Dance

Various Artists (Artist) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (November 6, 2001)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Jazz Oracle
• ASIN: B00005UBNE
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #181,939 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #86 in Music > Jazz > Swing Jazz > Vintage Dance Bands

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Nice sound, decent tunes, January 20, 2006

By 

"Gimpy" Peach Johnson - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dime Store Hot Dance (Audio CD)

With this compilation, Jazz Oracle has released another fine CD--this is a 5-star production, but the music itself deserves only 3 or at most 4 stars. Still, thank goodness someone is preserving this stuff! On the whole, this is decent 1920s dance band fare, played by competent bands with some clever arrangements and a handful of fairly good solos. Unfortunately, many of the tunes are downright forgettable; most collectors probably won't recognize the majority of the selections, and with good reason. The liner notes reveal that these songs were often written by staff composers at the Plaza Music Group (makers of Banner, Regal, Romeo, and other related dime-store 78 rpm labels from which these selections were taken). To save money on composer royalties, a "hit" tune would often be paired with one of these staff-composed stock fillers. Many of these songs were never recorded or published anywhere else. Still, there's enough here to keep your toes tapping and I found a few songs which have stuck in my head ("Who Says They Don't Care," "They Don't Come Better Than Betty," and "That's My Idea" are among my favorites). The CD has its share of awkward moments... like when Irving Kaufman sings the vocal on "In My Wedding Gown"--I wonder what *that* would look like! The remastered sound (by John R. T. Davies) is excellent, and remarkable considering the poor quality of the original pressings. The enclosed booklet is quite informative and fun to read. Serious 1920s dance band collectors won't want to miss this collection, but if you're a casual listener looking for a good sampler of 1920s music, look elsewhere. Not essential, but fun.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars For the hardcore collector..., April 17, 2002

By 

Thomas Bumbera (Maplewood, NJ USA) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Dime Store Hot Dance (Audio CD)

...here is an interesting collection of bargain-label dancebands from the late 20s. If you like this type of music there's really no reason to be reading this, you'll probably buy it anyway. Be aware that the condition of many sides is less-than-great (I have cleaner copies of several in my own collection and so may you) but the remastering is good, considering the poor quality of the original 78 pressings.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars THE POTENCY OF CHEAP MUSIC, February 8, 2011

By 

Barry McCanna (Normandy, France) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Dime Store Hot Dance (Audio CD)

That's cheap in monetary terms, rather than the somewhat derogatory sense used by Noel Coward, because the original 78s were produced as ephemera to be sold at a low price. The other reviewers have already said it all, so let me just add that these late twenties performances are far better than you would expect, given their pedigree. The package is up to Jazz Oracle's usual high standard, with a 24-page liner note containing background, discography, and colour photos of the labels.